Digital gift card vendor GiftCards.com is getting further entrenched in the mobile space with the launch of its new Android app.

The new application allows users to purchase e-cards from popular retailers, and also to customize them.

This app is brought to you by GiftCards.com, the highest-ranking and most-trafficked gift card website on the Internet. If you’re looking for a unique and personal gift for friends, family, or you just want to make someone smile, you’ve come to the right place. Our app enables you to quickly and easily turn your photos into a personalized Visa gift card or MasterCard gift card or choose from one of our popular brands such as Barnes and Noble, GameStop, and Sephora and send an eGift via email in minutes.

Creating a gift card is easy. Once a photo is uploaded and cropped, load it with your desired amount, and personalize a greeting card or paper carrier with a message. We offer a variety of shipping options from USPS First Class through FedEx Priority Overnight.

For a last-minute gift with immediate delivery, purchase an eGift card and the recipient will receive it within minutes. Once an eGift card is selected, load it with your desired amount, and personalize the gift with a message. Merchant eGift cards are redeemable online or they can be printed or downloaded to mobile apps and redeemed when shopping in the stores.

Our gift cards can be used anywhere in the United States that Visa or MasterCard are accepted.
Gift card purchase is available in the U.S. only.

Reports are starting to surface that Google is looking to add two key features to Google Play: wish lists and gift card redemption. The former is a nifty feature, one that will help users keep track of the apps they want. The latter is something that could have a big impact on Android going forward for two key reasons:

1. Access to apps and other Google Play content became a whole lot wider.

Go to a store sometime. Doesn’t matter if it’s Best Buy, a grocery store, or a convenience store. There’s usually iTunes gift cards for sale. Now, these aren’t always given away as gifts, but can be used by kids (or anyone else without access to a credit card) who just have cash on them to buy what they want off of iTunes, including apps. Google Play may be missing out on a lot of sales due to this. Anything that makes it easier to purchase content is a win for those selling content. The starving indie developer won’t immediately go away, but it could help those trying ot make money off of Android.

Image Credit: Android Police

2. It’s the harbinger of a promo code system, which Android desperately needs.

Android should make it easy to distribute apps. After all, with easy sideloading, a developer that wants to send an app to the press should just be able to send an APK. However, due to piracy concerns and the hurdles caused by the Google Play DRM licensing that some developers use, distribution is not always that easy. Promo codes would be a secure way to get apps to people who want to cover them. Over time, it could help shape the Android press from being so hardware-focused, and to allow app-focused sites like those that exist on iOS (such as the mothership 148Apps and a site like Touch Arcade) to take root on Android, because trying out apps to cover them will be so much easier.

Of course, this is all still somewhat unknown as to just when it will happen, as it is somethign uncovered by enterprising hackers. But the hints given by the Google Play balance given to Nexus 7 owners were smoke that appear to be fire.

One of the big issues with the Android Market, compared to iTunes, is the difficulty in giving things away on the store. There’s no kind of promo code or gift card system that Google offers for the apps, books, or movies they offer. This makes it more challenging for developers to distribute copies of their apps for review, and for friends to give gift cards to their Android-owning friends. As well, they enable users without credit cards to download items? For an iOS user, an iTunes gift card is a perfect gift, as it will not go unused. There just isn’t anything similar for Android.

While the issue of gifts on the Android Market specifically has not been solved, a startup named Mobiroo is trying to fill this void in their own way. They sell gift cards for apps for Android and Blackberry. These credits are not good for the Android Market or Blackberry App World specifically. Instead, users shop for apps from Mobiroo’s catalog. There are hundreds of apps available, including various titles from prominent publishers like Namco, EA Mobile, Polarbit, and more. Even apps like Root Explorer are available from Mobiroo’s library. Android users should not lack for interesting titles if they pick up one of these cards.

As far as availability, users in the US can buy them from Radio Shack and Target, and they are available from retailers in Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. Sorry, Antarcticans. The cards can be redeemed from Mobiroo’s website, which then allows users to browse through the library on their device to choose the apps they wish to redeem. As well, the cards currently offer $5-$10 additional value on top of the sticker price.

Mobiroo is definitely exploiting a hole that Google has yet to fill; after all, a store like iTunes’ ubiquity is helped when gift cards can be purchased on a whim when at the grocery store. While getting the cards into more retailers and keeping up with the app library (along with the question of whether apps can be updated) is key, this is an intriguing start.